Sovereign Bound
by Kelie
Summary: (Sequel to The Wisdom of War) Piper, her sisters and Leo try to gain control of their children’s’ wild tempers and roaming spirits as they approach the time when they will need to take over as the “Charmed Ones”.
1. Chapter 1: Growing Up Charmed

**Title:** _Sovereign Bound_

**Author:** _Kelie_

**Rating:** _R_ (_Violence, Crude language, etc_)

**Summary:** (**Sequel to The Wisdom of War**) _Piper, her sisters and Leo try to gain control of their children's' wild tempers and roaming spirits as they approach the time when they will need to take over as the "Charmed Ones"._

"He needs strict guidance, if he's to rule." He insisted.

She shook her head, looking awfully bemused. "I just don't think we're getting through to him. Every time we try to get close to him, he just backs away." She began to tear. "I'm afraid we're loosing him."

It was eighteen years after she's given birth to her first son; Piper was not exactly at her youthful peak. With the help of being an elder, Leo too had joined the ranks of the middle aged. He looked to be roughly two or three years older than Piper, even though he was much older than that. Still, they seemed from outward appearances to be a normal, married couple. They had never been normal, however. They were both magical beings with powers they used to fight evil. Piper was one third of a powerful force known as the 'Charmed Ones'. Leo had been their guide, angel and guardian for years; he'd healed their wounds and mended their hearts throughout the years.

Downstairs Phoebe began to fight with her own child. A teenage daughter was nothing less than evil, especially when she was trapped in a house where demons were the main reason her dates never ended well. Unfortunately, that was something Phoebe understood all too well. However, during the throws of a fight as this one, remembering your youth was not of top priorities.

"Come back here!" Phoebe scolded. "If you walk away from me, I'll bind your powers for the next.... Month!" She screamed.

It didn't matter, her daughter – Shiri – trampled up the stairs, and slammed her bedroom door. Her bedroom, which was shared with her cousin – Ryan, had once been her Mother's room. It had since been turned into her room, and then when she was two it became her cousin's room as well, they had to keep the girls together. The house was crowded. To compensate for the growing number of people in the house, her mother had moved into the sitting room, which had been changed into two larger rooms. Her Aunt Piper and Leo had taken one room, and her Mother had taken the other, while her cousins Wyatt, Chris and Victor took their Mother's old room. Aunt Paige had been the only one to keep her room, which she had gotten from her Aunt Prue, but she had never gotten to meet her. Shiri had heard stories, from before she was born, about the days when Prue was alive – but stories were just that to a teen; stories.

She slammed her door and flung herself upon her bed. Ryan, who had just finished putting her dress on, saw her cousin crying, she sat down on her own bed across the room and waited for the sobbing noises to settle.

"What happened?" She asked Shiri.

Shiri sniffled and sat up, rubbing her nose. "It's just not fair." She cried.

"Your date get ruined?" Ryan asked, sympathetic.

She nodded. "It's not just that. I have no life. I'm sixteen, my sweet sixteen party turned into a battle against the latest demon of week! Piper had to freeze my friends for four hours while we cleaned the guts off the ceiling!" She bellowed.

Ryan moved to sit next to her cousin. "It's not their fault, you know?" She reminded.

"Look at you, you're fourteen, but you're more rational then me." Shiri straightened her shirt. "I guess I should say sorry..." She admitted.

Ryan smiled. "I think that would be a good idea."

Meanwhile, Piper's boys were down the hall, having a very different conversation. Wyatt was sitting at their desk, while Chris was tossing a baseball up and down on his bed. Victor, who was five years younger than Chris was drawing in his notebook, instead of doing his homework.

"You just don't get it." Chris ground his teeth. "You think its all about you, but this could blow up in our faces. It's dangerous, to all of us." He pressed.

Wyatt shook his head; he didn't want to hear any of it. "I don't care. I love her."

With that he orbed out, presumably to see the girl of his dreams; even if it meant the destruction of his family.

Victor turned to his older brother Chris. "Mom is gonna be so mad." He worried.

"You have no idea." Chris nodded.

His little brother really didn't have clue. Wyatt's girlfriend was not just some girl. She was heir to the throne of a demonic over-lord. She was in line to take over when her father died, which would also give her immense powers, and a lot of control in the underworld. Amy was her name, but flaying victims was her game. Her Father was a flayer demon who uses his skins for all sorts of things, including powerful ingredients for demonic rituals. Not only did Amy's family have great power in the underworld, but they had amassed great wealth through the selling of their skins to demons, and with that wealth they had gotten influence over the human population as well.

If Wyatt was to join union in any manor with Amy's family, it could mean the downfall of a delicate balance that his mother and her sisters had worked so hard to create. All this was happening at the cusp of a new era. An era in which he and his brothers would become what they had been born to be, the next line of Charmed Ones – destined to protect the innocents and destroy evil. Wyatt's affair with Amy was in complete contrast to that destiny, and it endangered them all in ways he couldn't even imagine.

"Uh oh." Leo sighed, opening his eyes. "Wyatt is gone."

Piper flew into a maternal rage. "Damn that boy, I'll ground him into next Thursday, and don't think I can't." She warned.

The universe had given Piper partial control of her sons' powers. This was to keep them in line, and make sure they didn't use their powers for the wrong reasons. In doing so, Piper had become the Mother of all magic; a role which the book of shadows defined as the creator of the beings by which the universe would be rewritten. Basically, Piper had the powers of her sons, in order to balance their great force. This did not mean her sons didn't have their powers, they did. It was simply that their powers were not fully realized, until the day came that they were ready to receive their powers, or if Piper died. Either way, as the mother of all magic, Piper had not only gained significant power from her children, but she had refined her own temporal power to the point that she could literally move through time itself, transporting herself, or people and objects, through the present, future or past – a form of transportation, and a weapon against evil all rolled into one.

Leo smiled at his wife and kissed her cheek. "I don't think that's going to help. We both know what its like to have a destiny too large to comprehend. He's young, it's hard. We need to give him time."

"He doesn't have time, Leo. He's eighteen, and soon we're going to have to give him Excalibur, and after that – who knows what his teenage hormones will tell him to do!"

Leo agreed. "Its hard, especially knowing that he could possibly turn, but I believe in him, and I believe we did the best we could. We raised a good person. It's up to him now, to stay that way."

"Something is just – off. I feel it, it's like something is influencing him." Piper sighed angrily.

Leo nodded. "I think he's being influenced by normal teenage issues, like school, graduation, girls – not to mention his powers are growing."

"I feel him slipping, not just from us... but from what we stand for." Piper finished, she rubbed her husbands arm and walked away, dismayed by her feelings.


	2. Chapter 2: All About Power

Somewhere in the empty halls of the Magic School, Paige worked tirelessly. She was working on creating a fantastic school dance for her graduating students, all while grading the kids final projects for the summer, a selection of handmade spells and potions. As she read through the last of her papers, a figure shimmered into the dark corner of her office. Paige noticed it, but pretended not to – trying to get it to come out and expose itself. She casually got up from her chair and made her way to the cabinet next to the corner. Still pretending not to see the figure, she turned her back ever-so-slightly.

As she turned, her eye caught the glimpse of a silver belt buckle moving. She whipped around and simply motioned with her had for the envelope opener to attack the intruder. The figure froze, stunned by the attack.

"Wait!" It cried.

At the sound of his voice, Paige stopped the attack, centimeters before the blade would reach its victim.

"Oh God, I almost killed you!" She breathed heavily. "What are you doing here?"

The figure stepped forward from the shadow and revealed himself. He was a man around Paige's age. He was tall, and cut like a stone statue. It was obvious by now that he was not there to harm Paige. The witch knew him, and didn't seem to be threatened by him.

"I had to see you." He admitted reluctantly.

Paige sighed. "It's not safe, the elders watch the school. How did you get here anyway?"

"The same way you did." He explained.

She grimaced. "They don't want to hear that you could be good. They just don't believe in grey, you know? It's either black or white with them."

The man nodded. "I know." He said sadly.

Approaching him, she placed a gentle hand on his chest and pulled him into her by his shirt. She took his cheeks with her hands and kissed his lips softly. They embraced for a long moment, and then parted.

"Michael, you should go. If they see you here, there'll be nothing I can do to stop them." Paige begged.

Michael stroked her face gently and kissed her lightly. "I don't want to leave you."

Becoming serious, Paige nodded. "Then don't."

He knew she meant don't leave her, by dying. For just a moment he wanted to believe she meant for him to stay. He knew that wasn't the case, and so while she held him in her arms, he shimmered out – not knowing when the next time he'd be able to see her.

Just after he left, Paige took a good look around her office, turned the lights off and orbed back home.

The manor was a mess. Teenagers had taken over. For years now, the house had been one giant battle ground. Not just from demons, which still burst in at all times of day and night. Now the battles were between raging teens, who not only had crazy emotions and hormones to deal with, but their powers and magic abilities made teenage fighting, into teenage wars. Through the years, grounding had turned into binding. The first time they had to temporarily bind one of the kids was back when Wyatt was ten. He had decided to play a trick on Chris, by orbing his clothes off in the middle of class. Chris, being a little more sensitive than Wyatt began to cry hysterically. Wyatt was reprimanded by the teacher, but he grew angry at the authority and decided to use his powers to orb the entire class to the middle of a giant desert. Of course the misfit ten year old had a big laugh, when Piper and Leo were called in, they were so mad at his behavior that they bound his powers best they could for a whole three weeks.

Paige was just happy that so far, her daughter Ryan was very responsible. Not that she wouldn't like to see her little girl take chances, and maybe make a few more friends outside the family tree, she respected her daughter's ability to understand that she wasn't just another girl, she was a witch and happy to be one.

"I'm home!" Paige called. "Anybody home?" She asked.

Ryan came walking downstairs, carrying handful of magical objects. She smiled and came to give her mother a hug.

"Bring me anything?" She asked.

Paige smiled. "Not unless you want to orb to the school and get my paper work?"

"Um..." Ryan scrunched her nose; much like her mother used to and smiled playfully. "I'd rather not, thanks."

Just as Paige was about to spill about her day at work, a crash went through the house – sending shattered glass sliding all over the room. Paige, Ryan and now Chris too ran into the conservatory. They were greeted by six demons in hooded robed with long red claws. Victor came in just after the others and hid behind he brother, Chris.

"Who the hell are you?" Chris asked, with venom in his voice.

Paige frowned at Chris. "Watch you mouth!" She scolded.

"Yea, what the hell do you want?" Wyatt suddenly came into the room from behind his Aunt Paige.

Annoyed with her nephew's blunt language, Paige yelled. "Wyatt! Watch you mouth!" She sighed.

The demon closest to the front, began to speak. "Beware." He began.

"I don't have time for this." Wyatt rolled his eyes, and then yawned as he snapped his fingers.

The demons began to smoke as they screamed out in pain. Wyatt had flexed his growing power with almost no effort at all. Paige was nothing if not worried that his seemingly reckless abandon of the repercussions of his powers looked to be lost on him.

Paige grabbed her nephew's arm and pulled him back. "What on Earth are you doing!?" She asked.

"I'm destroying evil, you know, like I'm destined to?" He seemed confused, and not at all worried that his actions might affect something greater than himself.

Paige blundered with her thoughts. "Wha... Wyatt! You can't just... it's not that simple!"

"Actually... Aunt Paige. It's even simpler than that. They, evil. Me, good. They, dead. Me, alive." He chuckled, orbing away.

Paige was upset now, and tossed her purse to the ground, letting it slide into the burned remains of the dead demons.

"Leo!" Paige cried. "Leo!" She called again.

Leo and Piper orbed in. They had landed in the burned mess of demon remains. Piper immediately complained that her new boots were destroyed. She began to wipe her boots on the floor as Paige began to complain about another matter.

"Your son is a menace! He just vanquished six demons!" She began.

Leo laughed. "Paige, that doesn't sound bad."

Paige sighed. "Leo, he didn't even care why they were here, or what they wanted! What if they were here as a warning from some other demon... or something?"

Piper crossed her arms, considering. "Well, I'll talk to him – but I don't know how much good it'll do." She said, walking off to find her son.

Chris ran after his mother. "Mom, wait!" He called.

"What's wrong Chris?" Piper asked.

He looked at his mother, longingly. "Never mind..." He sighed. "It can wait."

Piper smiled at her middle son. "Thank you, Hun. Promise I'll try to make time later."

Chris nodded as she left, he muttered to himself. "There isn't much time left."

The elder came into the room, with Chris standing there, looking upset. Leo knew Chris would need him, but everything seemed to take him away from his middle son. Victor was still fairly young and needed more guiding than his older children. Leo was about to ask Chris what was wrong, when Victor began to beg for attention. Once again, Chris' needs were inadvertently put on hold. Leo only hoped that this time wouldn't be the time where Chris really needed him.

Her son was sitting on the edge of his bed, staring out at the street through his window. Piper was standing in the doorway, looking in awe at her creation. He'd gone from fragile, innocent child to strong, grown man in the blink of an eye.

"So, you want to talk?" She asked.

Wyatt turned his face away from herm toward the window. "No." She said bluntly.

"Yea, I figured as much. Hey, if you don't talk to me about it, I can't help you." Piper managed to say.

Wyatt stood up, irritated by his mother's pressing of the issue. "You don't even know what you're talking to me about. You're here because Paige whined." He snapped. Wyatt sighed, and orbed out of the manor.

A girl with soft golden locks and bright blue eyes, fair skin and the knock out looks to kill an army, sat on the edge of her bed, and sulked, looking out her own window. That is, until blue and white orbs swirled into her room, and too the formation of her boyfriend. As soon as she saw Wyatt, Amy stood up, flung her arms around his neck and began to kiss him again and again.

"Oh I missed you, I missed you!" She said energetically.

Wyatt smiled brightly, cupping her face with his hands. "I love you." He breathed.

"What are you going to do?" She asked.

Wyatt thought for a moment. "There's nothing I can do. I'm destined to fight you, and you're destined to fight me." He caressed her cheek. "I just wish we could end the fight between good and evil." He sighed.

"Maybe there is a way." Amy admitted. "What if it just became about power?"

Wyatt was a little puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"I mean. What if evil, good, none of that mattered anymore. What if the only thing that mattered was power? You could be king, and I could be your queen! No one would tell us we couldn't be together."

At this thought, an epiphany suddenly hit Wyatt. He was in fact the most powerful being in the world. He had what he needed to make the world what he wanted it to be. What he wanted was to be with Amy. Even if he had to change the world as he knew it, to make that possible.


	3. Chapter 3: The Will of His Heart

The time had come. He could feel it surge through his veins. It was his power, his and his alone. He knew that the time had come for him to do what everyone had feared he would. He was going to take his throne. He kissed his girl one more time and orbed back to his house.

"I just don't understand, how did this happen?" Piper asked.

Dried tears smeared across her face. She wasn't crying any longer, but it was obvious Piper had seen better days. Leo was sitting next to her on the couch. Devastation reached across their faces like a wave of hurt and pain. They stared blankly at a large stone, which had once held Excalibur. Wyatt had claimed his sword, and with it his throne as king and title as ruler.

"I think it's pretty obvious how this happened." Chris muttered under his breath.

Victor was confused. "Is Wyatt is trouble, Mommy?" He asked.

Leo tried to put a smile on. "No, not exactly..." He strained to keep from breaking apart.

Ryan let the book of shadows hit the table. "I don't see anything about this sword in here. Why didn't you leave us a clue? What if this had happened when you were all gone?" She was mad.

Shiri nodded in agreement. "This isn't just your problem, it's our problem too."

"You kids shouldn't have to worry about this. We don't want you guys too." Phoebe tried to sooth them in vain.

Chris clasped his fists together. "I knew this would happen. I just knew it."

Leo and Piper looked at their middle child with fear. Had they let things get back to the point where Chris would be forced to travel back in time? Piper was frightened for her son, for she knew the outcome of his rescue mission – he would die. What scared her more was the idea that perhaps she couldn't have ever stopped this, perhaps it was meant to be.

"We'll handle this." Leo laid the law down.

He didn't want his kids putting their lives on the line one more time. Not for him, not for Wyatt, not for any of this. They had created this problem, somehow, and they would fix it. It was as simple as that.

Ryan shook her head. "You guys aren't giving us all the details. What's missing?"

"Always the smart one." Paige beamed.

Phoebe interrupted her sister. "But really, it's not something any of you should concern yourself with. I think you should all go now, let us talk in private."

Upon the order, the kids began to file out of the room. Leo stopped Chris. Now the only kid left, among his aunts and parents – this young man felt very awkward.

"What did I do?" He asked sheepishly.

Piper started to well up with tears. "You haven't done anything." She sniffled – trying as hard as she could to contain her sobs.

Leo took over. "What your Mom means, what we all mean..." He took a breath; this wasn't going to be easy to explain.

"Just tell me." Chris said at last.

Paige sighed. "It's difficult, and complicated."

"...and painful." Phoebe agreed.

Leo cleared his throat, taking Piper's hand and squeezing it gently. "Your mother and I hoped we'd never have to tell you this."

"We wanted you to have the future you wanted." Piper added.

Leo continued. "When Wyatt was about one and half – you arrived from the future. You didn't tell us who you were, or why you were there, other than the fact that you were there to keep Wyatt from turning. You knew something turned him." He took a moment.

"You think I could have stopped this?" Chris was mortified.

His father disagreed. "No, not at all – we want to know, Chris, do you know anything about Wyatt that we don't... anything at all that might have triggered this, this change?" He begged his son to think.

"Dad, I can't. I don't know anything." Chris began to back away, nervously.

Piper stood up, reaching out for her son. "Wait – Chris stop." She pleaded.

"I have to go." Chris said, then orbed out.

Phoebe let her arms fall to her side in despair. "So much for plan 'A'... do we even have a plan 'B'?"

Inside the home of his girlfriend, Wyatt swung his sword with ease. It was as if he had taken lessons since the day he was born. The sword played to his every wish, it was an extension of him – more so than he could have ever imagined. He remembered being told that one day he'd be given Excalibur, but he'd never imagined the force of will, the sheer power it would allow him. The feeling pulsated through his body like a heartbeat – like his heartbeat. It sung to him, and made his dreams a reality. It was a power rush to say the least, and best of all, no one could take it from him. He'd embraced his true power, all of it and now it was time to use it.

Amy ran her hands up his arms, and took him into her warm embrace. Wyatt let his body lean into hers and they just held each other. This is why he had to do it; no one in this world would have understood their forbidden love. How would his parents understand? Since he could remember they had been together, the Elders never seemed to disprove of their love. Whitelighters and witches got together all the time these days. His love was different; it was dark, and powerful and all consuming. Wyatt knew he wanted this, more than anything or anyone else.

Just as they began to kiss, blue orbs swirled into the room. Chris was standing before them, looking destroyed emotionally. Wyatt set his sword down and clasped his brother by the shoulder. This was a happy day! It was the day he had declared himself king! Chris just looked depressed, morbid and mad; not at all what Wyatt had wanted to see.

"You're ruining by buzz with that look. What's the matter brother?" He asked.

Chris ran his hands through his hair. "Wyatt you have to stop this. You're freaking Mom and Dad out." He implored his sibling.

"What, and ruin all of the fun?" Wyatt brushed his pleas off. "I don't this so. I've got to change this world. I'm going to end the senseless battle between good and evil once and for all!"

The younger brother looked at Amy's wide smirk and knew she had something to do with this. "This is her, filling your head with filth! Don't listen! We need the war Wyatt, it keeps balance!" Chris yelled.

"Balance for what? A world where two people who love each other can't even be together?" Wyatt seemed more hurt than anything.

Grabbing his older brother and shaking him, Chris cried out for reason. "If you do this, something horrible will happen. I can feel it!"

Pushing Chris away, Wyatt took Amy under his arm. "Maybe so, but something good will happen too... We can get married!" He cried out with happiness.

"What!?" Chris tried to pull his brother away. "You can't. She's a demon!" He yelled.

At that, Wyatt had heard enough. Something inside him snapped – and he used his magic to send a strong wave of energy hurdling at Chris. It smashed him into the wall and held him there, before dropping him on the ground, with a thud. Getting up with some pain, Chris knew he was out-matched, and orbed back home – to safety.

Amy took Wyatt's hand and kissed his cheek, then skipped off to freshen up. She walked into a dark room, at the end of a long hall. It was filled with vials, potions, spells, herbs, and so much more magical ingredients. She lit a match and picked up a piece of paper that had been sitting out. A pre-set bowl of mixed herbs was set in the center of her make-shift alter. She lit the paper on fire, and spoke aloud.

"Bring my love to me, forever.

My soul to his, I sign.

No other goal, but our endeavor.

Let his will be that of mine.

So that we may be together."

She smiled as the last of her love-ritual had been completed. How funny it was to her, that the most powerful of all men would be brought to his knees by nothing but the will of his heart – consequently – his will would now be hers. She had placed herself upon his right hand, forging herself a destiny far greater than that of her father's. She was now bride, wife and queen of all magic, and Wyatt Halliwell was her king. Hers.


	4. Chapter 4: The Fall From Grace

WARNING: This chapter has some very violent actions.

A panicked orb often meant a messy landing. This time was no different; Chris landed on top of his Mother's end table, and crashed to the floor. Piper jumped up and ran to her son's aid. She stroked his head and tied to mother his wounds - which had obviously not been from the landing. All while Leo healed his son's bumps and bruises. His aunts and cousins came running into the room, shocked and worried at Chris' status.

"What the hell happened?!" Shiri blurted out, then looking to her mother, she covered her mouth quickly.

Phoebe, trying to ignore her daughter's distressed language; she took her own turn asking questions. "What did this to you?" Assuming it was a demon.

Chris couldn't bare this. His family just wanted him to say that it was a demon, some evil creature that had crossed his path. His Mother looked at him longing for an answer that didn't involve her eldest child. Chris wanted her to be happy. He wanted her to feel loved and to know just how well she'd raised them. If he was to tell her that her beloved oldest son was literally crazy with love and hell bent of destroying both good and evil – she would be destroyed. The whole family would fall to pieces. He wouldn't allow Wyatt's selfish actions to ruin his family. If he was destined to go to the future and stop him, then maybe that's what he'd have to do.

"I don't know." Chris said at last, unable to speak the truth. "It attacked me from behind." He explained, with a slight hesitation.

Leo sensed his son was hiding something, but knew not to press him. "Don't worry, we'll look into it." He assured Chris, patting him on the back.

Paige watched her nephew go upstairs, and ushered her daughter, and Shiri with Victor to follow him, and told them to do their homework. Then she turned her back and sighed deeply. She looked at her sisters. They had vanquished thousands of demons, destroyed a total of six sources, some more powerful than anything the world had ever known. They had managed to survive it all – but this – something about this was wrong. It felt dirty, like a betrayal. She didn't know for sure, but she just knew that something about this was connected to Wyatt, and she feared that this time, was _the_ time that Wyatt would fall from grace.

Looking back through the years, her sons had all been wondrous children, full of spirit, joy and goodness. Piper had been blessed with sons beyond any measure of what she could have hoped for. She and Leo had managed to raise them together, to stay in love and stay true to what they had promised one another. Yet, as she thought back to the days when her children were growing up, she remembered times when Wyatt would be enraged, beyond reason.

One such episode of rage was when Wyatt was only six years old. It was Chris' fifth birthday and Victor was still safely within his mother's womb – almost ready to be born. Wyatt had been acting normally all day, with nothing to key the family into a problem that might appear. Chris was being sung to, and he was about to blow out his candles when all the lights went out. At first Piper had thought it was a mere shortage, but she soon realized that the lights had gone out all over the neighborhood. Still, they didn't know what had caused it. Again, trying not to ruin their son's big day, Piper lit his candles and started the birthday song all over again. Once more, right as Chris was about to blow out his candles, something odd happened. This time, it was obvious who was behind the strange occurrence. When Chris went to blow out his candles, Wyatt telekinetically orbed his cake from the table, and dropped it from the stairs. He then started to smash toys, and ruin presents. By this time, Chris had begun to cry, he couldn't understand why his big brother would be so mean. Frankly, neither could anyone. When asked about why he would hurt his brother's feelings like that, Wyatt refused to answer, stating only that he hated him for his love. Confused by his answer, Leo had tried to explain that love was not something to hate, but Wyatt would not talk about it. Piper now believed that Wyatt didn't hate Chris because of his love, but instead he hated him for the love the family bestowed upon him. Piper realized that the trauma of loosing Chris when he was an adult had caused them to shower him with affection, especially in the early days. Perhaps in giving Chris their attention, Wyatt's child eyes could not see that they loved him just as much. The guilt washed over Piper. She felt like a horrible mother!

Sighing, Paige sat down across from her sisters and Leo. "You guys might not want to hear this."

"Not now Paige." Piper was ridden with guilt and sorrow.

Phoebe shook her head. "I know, but they need to hear this..." She muttered just loud enough for them to hear her.

"Thanks for reading my mind Phoebes, but would you mind not sharing them with the class!" Paige protested.

Blushing, Phoebe nodded. "Oops, sorry."

"What do we need to hear?" Leo asked, sheepishly.

Paige crossed her arms. "I think this has to do with Wyatt. I don't know what, but... there is something."

Phoebe closed her eyes, trying to use her powers to sense her nephew and possibly even read his mind. However, nothing came of it – as usual. She'd never been powerful enough to read Wyatt.

Leo too closed his eyes and waited. He sensed his son was physically ok, but got nothing from him other than that. He opened his eyes, and Piper knew immediately that something was wrong.

"Maybe I should go back in time and change this..." Piper ventured.

Leo took his wife's arm. "No. We all know too well the repercussions of time travel."

Phoebe sighed. "Maybe just enough to find out where he went..." She suggested.

Paige disagreed. "Any alteration in the time line could cause things to get worse."

"Well, then what should we do? I can't just sit here!" She began to raise her voice.

"I hate to admit it, but if we don't go back, how are we supposed to find Wyatt?" Phoebe asked them.

As if on cue, a thunderous swarm of blue and white orbs flooded the room. In a wave of orbs and thunder Wyatt appeared, with Excalibur in hand. His face had changed. He'd become empty to look at, almost soulless. Piper shuddered, that was not her son. But it was.

"Wyatt!" Piper ran to hug him out of instinct.

He pushed her away and drew his sword. "Stay where you are!" He took a breath. "I am here to rewrite the universe! Good and Evil will no longer exist. All that will exist is power!" He raged.

Leo motioned to take the sword from his son. Before he could manage the feet, Wyatt used a wave of energy to slam his father into the couch, letting him tumble over the furniture and hit the floor behind. Piper motioned the freeze him, her power did nothing to him, but aggravate him to the point of total rage. She too was swept into his powerful wave of energy and settled beside her husband on the floor. Frantic to keep Wyatt from escaping, Paige tried to mentally orb crystals around Wyatt, but he anticipated her act and quickly orbed the crystals around them instead. Laughing at their crisis, he sat on the couch and watched Paige and Phoebe tended to his parents. Carelessly he began to clean his sword.

Hearing the commotion, Chris, Shiri, Ryan and even Victor came running downstairs to find Wyatt watching over the other's with a cruel, evil glare. Chris silently orbed in behind Wyatt and then used telekinesis to scoot one of the crystals away from the circle. Startled by the sudden motion, Wyatt spun around to find his brother ruining his fun – yet again.

"Stop this!" Wyatt whined. "You always take everything. You've ruined my life, but you're not going to take this!" He cried, and locked all of the kids in a barrier, forcing them to watch as he moved to his next phase.

Piper was unconscious, as was Leo. Phoebe and Paige were not however. Chris violently threw himself at the barrier as Wyatt stalked ever so close to his parents. Then, taking their mother by the throat he caressed her face and brushed the hair out of her face. For just a moment, he was himself – loving and sweet to his mother. Then, in a split second, as if someone else was deciding his will – he snapped back into his lunatic persona and began to grip his mother with hatred, not love. Chris knew this wasn't Wyatt, something was wrong, Wyatt may have his wild rampages sometimes, every teen did, but this was different. Maybe it was the sword, he over head Mom retelling how it changed her back in the day – maybe Wyatt wasn't as strong as he thought.

"You gave me life, but you couldn't give me love." Wyatt muttered, then violently snapped Piper's neck.

Her head swung to the left, beyond it natural reach. Her body relaxed, and when Wyatt let her go, she hit the floor with a cold thud. All of the children began to cry, Phoebe and Paige sobbed without control as Wyatt turned to his brothers next.

"Wyatt what have you done?" Phoebe cried; her body shaking as she touched Piper's cheek.

Wyatt smiled without emotion. "What I have to." He then orbed out.

As he left, the kids were released from their cage and ran to find Leo just barely waking up, and Piper lying motionless on the ground.

He orbed back into Amy's home. She rose to greet her boyfriend with great joy. Wrapping her arms around him lovingly, she kissed him.

"How did it go?" She asked.

Wyatt smiled back at her. "Just like you wanted."

"Next time you need to get rid of the competition – that means your brothers have to go." She said blankly.

Wyatt nodded, completely smitten by her, and totally under her will. "I agree."

He began to awake to the sound of crying, shrieking and screaming. His head pounded but he managed to sit up. As his eyes focused on the scene before him, he realized that it had been Phoebe, Paige and all of the kids crying and making noise. He looked down to his side and found Piper lying beside him, obviously dead. Her neck was snapped, her head was lying at an angel that was not natural, and quite gruesome to look at. Her eyes were shut, and relaxed, indicating that she died in her sleep – or rather – when she was unconscious like him. Did Wyatt do this? The thought sent a mixture of emotions, rage and sorrow, disappointment and terror. It was a swirl of crazy thoughts that made him want to hurl.

"Piper?" Tears began to well up at his eyes. "No... wait. We were supposed to be forever." He begged quietly, his tears hitting her face.

"Can you fix this?" Paige cried.

Victor ran to his mother and shook her, as if to wake her up. "Mommy? Mommy?"

"I will, I have to." Leo was determined.

He closed his eyes and let his hands hover over her neck. Everyone held their breath, watching as Leo prayed that the powers within him would grant him this miracle.


	5. Chapter 5: Meaningless Spiral of Gloom

As the moments ticked by, frantic family members began to worry that Leo would not have the power to heal his beloved wife. Chris collapsed next to his mother and cried. He buried his head into her chest and let his tears puddle. This was entirely his fault. If he had just told them about Amy and Wyatt none of this would have happened! Why did he have to be so stupid? He made this mess, and there was nothing he could do to bring back his mother.

"Mom, please!" He begged her body to rise and live.

Leo looked from his wife, to his family – with tear filled eyes and a quivering lip. "She's gone."

His words were the last to be spoken that day. Silence took over their home. The monarch of their family line was gone – and with her – the protection she had given them. Piper had been the most powerful out of them all. She had harbored her sons' powers for years, as well as her own powers. As the mother of all magic she had managed to keep her sons from inheriting the title of 'Charmed'. Upon her death Wyatt, Chris and Victor became the new Charmed Ones.

Unable to cope with the loss of his wife, Leo hid in his work. He pledged his life to the Elders and never looked back - as far as his kids knew. Of course, he missed them and loved them, but guilt and sorrow filled him – he had lost the capacity to feel joy.

Like Leo, Piper's death sent a ripple effect to her sisters. Like the kindred souls they were, without their sister – without hope of renewing their bonds, they became wild with rage. Phoebe and Paige, who were no longer 'Charmed', submerged themselves in consuming power they created through spells. They used the powers they created to vanquish demons. They searched for Wyatt for years; every time they found him he would beat them back, and disappear.

Paige was the second sister to die. It was not by the hand of a demon, or Wyatt – or anything magical. One night while working on some of her student's papers, she fell ill. She was sent to the hospital where they diagnosed her symptoms as severe internal bleeding. Something she should have felt earlier if she had not used magic to take her pain away. She had been using a pain-reversal spell for days to keep her stomach aches bearable, so she could keep fighting. Little did she know she was slowly bleeding to death. She passed away with her family around her, at the hospital where Chris had been born. By the time the doctors knew what the problem was, it was too late.

Even with her daughter there to try and help her grieve, empathy was something Phoebe had retained, even without being 'Charmed'. The stress of grieving and feeling the loss of yet another sister – not just her loss, but the loss everyone else felt for Paige sent her into a deep depression. On the morning of the sixth anniversary of Piper's death, Victor – who was now eighteen – found his aunt lying on her bed. Phoebe had mixed a cocktail of sleeping pills and whiskey. She had passed away in her sleep.

With both of his aunts now dead, Chris was left to fend for his younger brother and two younger cousins. It had been two months since Phoebe's death and he was at wits end. He had no one to turn to, no one to guide him. He wanted so badly to go back and just change things to make them right again. It was then that a memory long dormant hit him. Something his parents had tried to tell him years ago – when he was only seventeen. Now he was twenty three, an adult and capable of changing things. His father had told him that he had gone to the future to stop Wyatt from turning into the power hungry idiot he had become. How had he gone back? When? There were so many questions; but only one person was still alive to answer them – he would have to find his father. As he pondered that option, his bedroom door burst open. It was Shiri – getting ready for work.

"Chris... hello? Earth to Chris!" She waved her hands about. "Hello?!" She yelled.

Snapping back into reality. "What's the matter, Shiri?" He asked.

"Victor's graduation is today... remember? You have to drop him off early – for the photo session with the rest of the seniors." She sighed, throwing him the keys.

Taking the metal objects into his palm. "I can't – not today." He insisted, giving the keys back.

"What do you mean, you can't?" She began to tap her right foot, angrily. "Listen – I don't have a choice here, ok? If it was up to me, I'd have Ryan take him, but she's... honestly, I don't want her driving my car."

Chris smiled, Ryan was a bad driver – not that he would ever tell her that. "Why don't you just tell him to orb his butt into the janitor's closet?" He shrugged. "We did it."

"That's not funny, Christopher!" She had now started strumming her fingers on her hips, clearly irritated.

Getting up from his seat, he sighed. "Okay, relax."

After Paige's death Magic School had no one left to fight for it. No Elder would take the chance of running it, and no witch had the ability to handle the responsibility it entailed. Put simply, without Paige the magic at Magic School was as good as dead. The kids were sent back to their homes, and back into normal schools. Leaving young witches like Victor to fend for themselves. Meaning, when things got rough – they orbed, or otherwise magically transported themselves into a closet at school and prayed no one noticed the blue glow or swirl of magical lights.

"Before I drop Victor off, I gotta do something, ok?" Chris said in an 'I-get-the-last-word' tone.

She nodded, resigning herself. "Fine, but this is his big day. Don't screw him over." She stated bluntly, and spun on her heel to find a blazer for work.

Chris was standing in the middle of his room, staring up at the ceiling. This world was a waste. Good was not prevailing. Wyatt was on a crusade to end the battle between good and evil – sure. But his methods were proving more and more ruthless as time went by. He killed, he stole, he murdered in cold blood. He did whatever and took whoever he had to, to get the result he wanted. This was not a future he wanted to be a part of. This was not a world he wanted his brothers, his cousins or anyone he loved to be a part of. This was a world that had been left for dead – because that's exactly what it was. It was dead, or dying. He couldn't tell anymore. Clouds were always dark, and the sun barely ever shone from the sky. The stars were all but gone and wind – no matter what the weather, was always cold. Rain seemed to go on for weeks without end, and nothing seemed to bring light, or joy anymore. People were miserable, even people who had no clue what magic was, or what witches really did. No one wanted this world, no one wanted this existence. Perhaps it was up to him to change it. But what started it all? What really started this meaningless spiral of gloom?

The young witch-whitelighter hybrid fell to his knees. He prayed silently that his words would not fall upon deaf ears.

"Dad, I know you're there. I can't feel you. I need you Dad – now, right now." He took a small breath, trying to maintain his manliness. "I miss you, and I miss Mom. I miss Aunt Phoebe and Paige; I miss the life we shared together as a family. I want you to answer my questions. You owe me that."

Finally his words brought a reply. Familiar blue orbs twinkled and sparkled as they orbed into his room. They took shape – it was Leo. Chris stood up to greet his father man, to man.

"Dad, is that you?" Chris asked, unsure.

It was him alright. He had changed. His face had aged slightly, and his hair was graying. He wore elder's robes and had a calm about him that didn't sit well with Chris.

"It's me." He assured his son. "You look just like I remember..." Leo said, amazed at the sight of his grown son. "Just like you did years ago..."

Annoyed by the remarks, he jumped right to the point. "Tell me everything about what I did in the future. How I got there, when I got there... everything." He insisted.

"I can't – I won't." Leo crossed his arms – determined.

He grabbed his father by the cuff of his robe, and peered down at him with unrelenting strength. "I will find out – even if I have to orb up _there_ to do it. Don't think I won't."

"Chris..." He tried to make his son understand the importance of this knowledge.

With searing hatred dripping from his every word, Chris interrupted. "Tell me, or so help me God – I'll go back to where it all started – before me, before you and Mom, and I'll stop it all."

Leo was shocked at his son's resolve. "That's crazy! You'd kill your whole family?"

"If that's what it takes to stop the world from being ruined – then..." He paused and looked his father up and down, taking stock of him. "Yes."

Leo knew then that his son would do exactly as he threatened, and relented. "I'll tell you – everything."

Smiling at his small victory, Chris let his father go, and they sat down on his bed. The look of devastation he'd seen only after his own mother's death – Chris saw again wash over his father. As if he was staring at a ghost.

"I'm going to tell you everything I can – to inform you, to let you know what went wrong, who the bad guy was, everything." The Elder explained.

His son nodded, anxious to hear what he had to say. "Ok, let me have it." He braced himself for the information.

"It was the day your mother turned into a Greek Goddess..." Gulping, he prepared for a long story.

Listening for hours as his father told him about everything that happened. Everything gruesome detail – some bits he wished he'd never heard, particularly about his own conception. This was the price however, the price of knowing your future – to know your past. Learning that Gideon was in fact the one who almost turned Wyatt was a shock, but not that crazy. After all, Wyatt still went bonkers. Being impartial to evil still didn't make you good. As his father drew close the end of his retelling, Chris noted a few beads of sweat balling up on his forehead. The memories were clearly difficult for him to share.

"... He stabbed you, by the time I found you..." Leo swallowed hard – repressing the need to cry. "I couldn't heal you, there was nothing I could do – but watch you... you..."

Chris touched his father's shoulder warmly. "It's ok. I get it." Breathing deep. "Is that everything?"

"As far as I know." Leo nodded.

His son was pleased. "Well, with this information I know what not to do. See? The future has already been changed – now it just needs to be tweaked."

Leo grabbed Chris by the arm. "No son, please don't. Things could still go badly. You might die." He begged.

"I might die here too – but if I go, I have a chance to bring everyone back – I could bring Mom back, and make you happy again – make everyone happy again. If I go back, and I die, it'll be a small price to pay for a planet that can feel joy again." He expressed.

Leo shut down emotionally, and would not respond. Chris knew his father couldn't face him, not if he thought his son was about to travel back to a time where he would end up on the pointy end of a dagger. Luckily he knew about all of that now, so this time he'd go back to a point where he was already born, a point where he could make it all right.

He was going to go back to the day just before his Wiccaning.


	6. Chapter 6: The Eye of The Abyss

It had taken him many weeks to get everything set up. In that time he'd lost his cousin Shiri to Wyatt's rage, and now Victor was sick with grief. It had finally gotten the best of his little brother. Chris knew that if he didn't go back soon, he'd loose everything and possibly his own life too.

"This is it." Chris stepped away from the attic wall and looked at his drawing of the triqutra – the symbol of the power of three.

Victor looked to his older brother. "What if it doesn't work, how will you get home?"

"I won't. But it will work." He patted his brother's head. "Don't worry; I'm going to bring them all back."

The youngest of the charmed ones smiled; then became serious. "How will you protect them if you don't have your powers?" His concern was valid.

"I will have my powers. I created a spell for it." Chris then began to read the portal spell.

The brothers watched as the portal began to tremor and spark uncontrollably. Chris placed a protective hand in front of his brother, as Ryan ran up the stairs to find a portal opening in her attic. She screamed thinking it was a demon on its way.

"Watch out!" She bellowed.

Chris turned to Ryan. "Its ok, it's for me."

"What, no. Chris I told you no!" She begged.

He placed a loving hand on his cousin's face. "Ryan, it'll be ok. I'm going to save us – all of us, and when I come back, everything will be so much happier."

Ryan began to cry. Chris turned to his little brother. "Take care of each other, and don't let Wyatt follow me, do whatever you have to do to close the portal, even if that means preventing me from coming back."

Victor swallowed, not comfortable with that. "But..."

Chris shook his head emphatically. "Victor this is important. Very important. If Wyatt was to go back to the past, he could ruin everything and possibly kill Mom and Dad before you were even born. He could kill us all before we could do anything to defend ourselves."

The young witch understood and hugged his big brother. "I love you, Chris. Please, don't die."

Chris turned to Ryan, whose tears were still streaming down her face. "I know this is dangerous, but it's more dangerous to let this world stay the way it is."

She nodded unnerved at the thought of loosing her cousin. "Who will protect us? Who will get the food, and take Victor to school, and yell at his teachers?" She asked, groping at any straws she could find.

Chris smiled, and patted her head. "You're a big girl, you have a job, and I know for a fact that you can yell at teachers just as well as I can. You guys will be ok, as long as you stay together and don't cause trouble." He insisted.

Turning from their saddened eyes, he peered into the portal. It was like looking into the eye of the abyss. He had no idea if this would work, and if not, where or when he'd end up. Things were so bad right now that anywhere seemed a better place then here.

"I love you guys!" He said, before jumping in the portal.

The moment he was gone, Ryan burst into tears again. She was shaken and disturbed by this whole situation. Her entire family was dead; all that remained now was Victor, and unfortunately, Wyatt. She shivered at the thought of Chris getting caught up in something beyond his control – and knowing him, he would do just that.

As they prepared to close the portal and prevent Wyatt from returning, a thunderous cloud of orbs and mist shook through the attic. They prepared themselves for what and who they knew was coming. It was Wyatt in all his dark glory. His ever faithful bride, Amy was at his arm – as always, with that smart look and smirk that just seemed so cold and calculating. Ryan thrust her hands out and motioned them forcibly, causing an invisible wave of electric energy to ripple through the air. So strong was her wave that it sent Wyatt's little girlfriend flying into the wall behind them.

Enraged by their actions of violence against his beloved Amy, Wyatt reached out and orbed a knife into the air. It hung mid-air for a moment, before Wyatt gestured it, flinging it toward his cousin. Ryan ducked quickly and grabbed hold of Victor, fleeing Wyatt for their lives. They ran through the house.

Once in the kitchen, Wyatt had already orbed himself there and met them head on. Immediately, Victor motioned his hands like his mother always had. A blast of telekinetic energy sent Wyatt sliding backwards a few feet. Giving the fleeing two, time enough to once again run back upstairs; upon reaching the attic, Ryan took Victor aside and held him by the shoulders, whispering.

"We have to go back – with Chris. We can close the portal after we're in the past. We can't survive here much longer; it's only a matter of time before Wyatt gets us." She insistently said.

Victor agreed, nodding vigorously. "Not just a matter of time... I think we have minutes before Wyatt's back up and ready for a fight!"

Not wasting another moment talking, Victor ran to the wall where they had opened a portal for Chris and began to remake the drawing, as quickly as he could.

While her cousin began to redraw the portal, Ryan crossed the attic to where Amy was laying, unconscious. She bent down and looked at the sleeping temptress. She looked to the table with their magical objects. She stared at the dagger for a moment, and used her electric energy to draw it toward her – magnetically, landing safely in her hand. She brought the knife above her head, and then began to swing it back – motioning to stab the young girl. Just as the dagger's blade touched the girl, she stopped, unable to go through with it. This girl was a demon, she was evil, and it was her job to fight evil – why couldn't she just kill her? Shaking her head and batting the numerous thoughts out of her mind, she motioned once more to stab the girl, this time; she dug the blade into the woman's chest – deep. The knife sunk in, and stayed. It was easy, too easy. The girl's body laid there, still and peaceful. It was creepy. Backing away from her murderous deed, Victor and her said the spell to keep their powers and open the portal and then quickly jumped inside. If they had not been in danger of Wyatt's rage before Ryan killed Amy, they were surely in danger now.

Meanwhile, in the year 2004; Chris had just come through the portal only a few minutes before. He was alone, for the moment. No one happened to be upstairs when he jumped through. That was good; it gave him time to think about what to say to them. According to his father, they would know him, but it would be a different version of him. Although he'd ended up coming to the past again, he'd grown up in a different future, enough so that his father said that he'd turned out much different then he had been before. The idea of different versions of him was weird, and creepy. Chris figured that if they knew him already there wouldn't be much harm in letting them know why he was back in the past. After all, the more they knew the better they would be prepared to change things.

Just as he was organizing his thoughts, he heard a series of familiar footsteps climbing the stairs. He gulped hard. Suddenly, in his nervous panic, he had forgotten what he'd planned to say. Everything was gone, as if he was about to take a huge test. The footsteps got closer. His heart began to pound, his palms began to sweat – he was about ready to freak out. The footsteps had reached the attic door, the door was opening. Chris' instinct was to begin to try and find a place to hide.

In fact, he was half-in-half-out of cupboard that was big enough to hold him. He felt the eyes fall upon his bottom, even though he had his back turned. Flashbacks of being caught in a similar position when he'd tried to get out of going to magic school detention ran through his head. It was like he was twelve again, and he'd just gotten caught doing something bad. He heard his mother's surprised gasp, and his aunts both mutter 'Oh my God.' – All very familiar reaction. Shamefully he slowly turned to meet their startled eyes.

"Hi." He gulped.

Piper was amazed when she saw her son, who was downstairs sleeping his bassinette, upstairs, in his twenties, and just as she remembered. She took a step forward, before Phoebe grabbed her arm to stop her.

"Who are you?" Paige asked, defensively.

Chris was puzzled. "Um, it's me – Chris."

"Really, who are you and why are you shaped like our nephew?" Phoebe demanded, ready to attack him.

"Wait... no..." Chris begged.

Piper didn't need to have anyone tell her that this was indeed her son. She knew it was him before he had even turned around. It was her son, and she was too unbelievably shocked to say anything, at first.

Finally she mustered the courage to speak. "Chris." She sighed – amazed.

Her son smiled in relief at her recognition of him. "Mom, thank God. For a second there I thought I went back to the wrong time. You guys really freaked me out!"

Paige and Phoebe looked at one another, completely confused. Piper just walked quietly up to her son and hugged him tight. She had worried about him, even though he was really right there with him, it wasn't the same – knowing he'd died but been reborn, it was all just so emotional. Seeing him in his adult form took a giant weight from her shoulders. She wiped tears from her eyes and screamed for Leo.

"Leo, Leo, come quick!" She said with a huge smile spread across her face.

His blue and white orbs swirled into the room and took form. He immediately saw Chris and stumbled back slightly, shocked and overwhelmed. He ran over and gave his son the biggest bear hug he could gather.

"Oh my God!" He began to cry tears of joy at the sight of his son. "You're ok!"

Chris smiled, and just let them do as they would with him, hugging him and poking him. He understood their excitement, and his aunts' reservations. It must be an awful lot to take in – all at once. As soon as he was free, Chris took a breath, about to unload the whole deal on them, whether they were willing to hear it or not.

"You guys have no idea how much I have missed you. But I'm not here for a social call." He stated bluntly.

Piper frowned nervously. "It's not Wyatt again, is it?" She looked nervously at her grown son.

"Actually..." He nodded, showing his disappointment. "Sorry..."

Leo crossed his arms, really to take in whatever information he was about to get. "What's wrong?"

"Maybe it'll be better to tell you what's not wrong." Chris said, sheepishly.

After a moment of silence, Phoebe grew weary and impatient. "Well then, what's not wrong?"

"That's it. Nothing is right." Chris shrugged.

Paige rolled her eyes. "Of course, I mean, why would he come back if there was nothing wrong..." She sat down, tired already.


	7. Chapter 7: For the Future

Sorry it took so long for a update. I have had computer problems.

Victor fell through first, lands hard on his butt. He rolled to a stop, and stood facing the portal, awaiting his cousin's arrival. Moments later, Ryan landed, tucking and rolling as she had been taught to do by Chris so many years ago. As she picked herself up, the two young witches looked around in utter awe. They were home… but not. Everything here looked so much nicer, and newer.

Ryan tipped toed to the edge of the attic stair and listened for Chris and the others.

"Can you hear anything?" Victor whispered.

Ryan shook her head. "Not really. I hear talking, but can't make out who it is. We better hide until we can get Chris alone." She suggested.

"Yea." Victor agreed, leading her to the far corner.

He hugged her close, and took a deep breath. Closing his eyes, he used his twice-blessed abilities to make both Ryan and himself invisible. Small tipped-toes footstep could be heard as they made their way downstairs toward the people talking.

In the living room, Chris was trying to explain what had taken place that forced him to go back in time, again. He explained that his father had told him everything he knew about why he originally went back.

"So, I came back the day before my wiccaning, because…" He began.

At that, Piper interrupted. "Wiccaning, what wiccaning… I'm not having a wiccaning…" She protested, turning to her sisters, who shrunk – busted.

"It's not what you think…" Paige insisted.

Piper rolled her eyes. "You and Phoebe are going to go behind my back and have a wiccaning for my son!"

Phoebe scrunched her nose. "Ok, maybe it is what you think…"

"Hey, can we focus here? And Mom, I want a wiccaning… ok?" Chris crossed his arms. "I'd forgotten how crazy you three can be together…" He sighed, irritated. "By coming back now, I –" Before he could finish there was a crash in the hallway. "What was that?"

Paige snorted a laugh. "You don't know, and you say you're from the future…" She smiled, teasing him.

Chris led the way into the hall where they had heard the crash. Lying on the floor was a vase. Chris closed his eyes and smiled when he sensed a familiar presence, in fact, he sensed two familiar presences.

Leo frowned. "Why are you smiling?" He asked.

Chris smirked. "Because, I know who it is…" He answered.

"Who?" Piper whispered, looking around with a paranoid gaze.

Chris spun around, and placed his hand on the wall, as if blocking the path of someone. A moment later, a young boy and girl appeared out of nowhere. They fell on their bums, and began to curse under their breaths.

Ryan's gaze met Paige's and they held each other's locked stare. Victor grabbed hold of his brother's hand and stood up. He looked at Piper with love in his eyes, but quickly stopped when he saw no recognition.

"Who are they?" Phoebe asked.

Chris rubbed his eyes and shook his head. "People who were supposed to do as they were told."

"Like you ever did that…" Victor snubbed.

Ryan nodded. "Plus, it was out of our hands, Chris… we need to talk to you… future people only."

Paige rolled her eyes, as habit when she was kept from knowing something. "So, what… we're not allowed in your club now?" She scoffed.

Chris ignored his aunt's snooty tone, and pulled his brother and cousin into the main hall my the front door. He looked around, making sure they were not listening to him.

"What's wrong? What happened?" He asked, worried.

Ryan took her older cousin's shoulders and became utterly serious. "I killed Amy."

"What!?" Chris was shocked.

His younger brother nodded, and was also all too serious. "Wyatt was after us... he was going to kill us. On our way here, Ryan just… she had a chance to do it, and she took it." He said, closing his eyes in shame.

Chris ran his fingers through his hair and began to pace. "Wyatt will be coming after us now. We have to shut the portal for good." He said, lowly.

Ryan went into a panic. "For good? No way, we'll be trapped here!"

"That's right. It's the price we pay, to save everyone else." He answered.

The three young witches fell silent for a moment. They took in what this meant and swallowed its bitter taste back. Finally Victor nodded in agreement.

"For the others." He said with conviction.

Ryan relented. "For family."

Chris hugged them tight. "For the future."

Piper had finally had enough of waiting, when he came in on the three kids hugging. She waited, watching them – smiling at the sweet sight.

"So, are you going to tell us what's happening?" She asked, in a mild, calm tone.

Chris sunk back. "I'm not supposed to…" He began.

"Yea, I know. And look at what that got you last time. Maybe you should try a different approach this time around." She suggested.

Chris looked at his brother and cousin who nodded their consent. "Alright."

Everyone gathered in the attic, where the sisters and Leo watched as the younger witches, from the future did their ritual to close the portal. Then they all sat down, and looked saddened.

Chris gained their attention. "This is Ryan." He began.

Everyone turned to listen, giving him their full attention.

"She's my cousin, and her last name is not Halliwell. It's Matthews." He explained softly.

Paige's head snapped to look at the girl, in awe. "But that would make her… my…" She trailed off.

"You're daughter, yea." Ryan shrugged shyly.

Chris continued. "This is my little brother, Victor. He's kind of a trouble maker, but he's a good kid." He smiled, playfully messing his brother's hair up.

Piper gasped. "Hi… um… do I have any other kids, I should know about?"

Chris smirked. "Nope, that's all of them."

"Or it was…" Victor mumbled, realizing that by coming to a past where did not exist yet, he may never be born at all.

Ryan spoke up. "The thing is, you guys… are dead. And, um, Shiri is dead and I just killed Amy, so there is this whole big problem with Wyatt… cause…" She began to spit it all out, as if the others had a clue as to what she was talking about.

"Wait! Stop. Slow down…" Phoebe encouraged. "First of all, who is Shiri, Amy and what's wrong with Wyatt now… and what do you means we're dead?"

Chris took a breath. "Ryan, please let me tell them. Ok?" He let her take her seat, and continued on. "Shiri was you daughter, Phoebe. She died not too long ago. You, Paige and Mom are all dead. Dad, you're… busy doing your thing, but you did come through when I needed you. All that's really left of the Halliwell family is Ryan, Victor and I. Wyatt has turned against us, and Amy is his girlfriend… who Ryan apparently killed after I left, which opens up a world of hurt for us."

Piper swallowed back her tears. "So everything we did… you dying, it was all for nothing? Wyatt is still evil, and everyone died anyway."

Her middle son disagreed. "Wyatt is not evil. He's just power hungry. We also think that Amy might have something to do with his aggressive nature. He kills witches and demons alike. He squashes anyone who steps in his path or disrupts him." He explained. "He is absolutely in love with Amy, and I think that he felt the only way they could be together was if he channeled the power of Excalibur to his plan."

Leo crossed his arms. "What is his plan, exactly?"

Chris sat down, letting his head fall into his hands. He just did not have the answers to everything. Ryan and Victor tried to comfort him, but it was too no avail. He had gambled everything on coming here and seemed now that it was not going to solve their problems.

"I just don't know…" He said, beginning to well up.

During this time, Paige had been flipping through the book of shadows. She began to scan a page she had come to, and looked up – stunned they'd not thought to do this before. Or maybe they had, and they had dismissed it. Either way, this might solve all their problems… or potentially make their problems worse.

"You closed that portal, right?" Paige asked.

Ryan nodded. "That's right. We can't go back."

"But we don't want to go back, we want to go forward." She explained.

Victor shook his head. "That's probably not a good idea." He reminded.

"No, this might be a good thing. I mean we tired this before, and apparently changed very little. So maybe you don't need to come to us, maybe we need to go to you." Piper suggested.

"But then you all will still be dead, and even if we stop Wyatt, we won't have changed a thing." Chris explained, confused.

Phoebe shook her head. "Not if we go to a point in the future where the problem was just starting… maybe when this Amy girl came into Wyatt's life…"

Leo agreed. "Its worth a shot."


	8. Chapter 8: To Save Ourselves

The girls gathered potions, herbs and magical ingredients. They began to charm themselves, so when they traveled to a future where they're future selves could die, they would still possess their powers. Leo took Piper aside, touched her cheek and told her.

"You know I can't go with you." He reminded.

She nodded. "I know."

"I love you Piper."

"I love you too."

As their goodbyes ended, Paige began to open another portal. This time to a point in the future before this mess began, before Wyatt met his girlfriend, before they had died.

"Guys…" She said, as the portal began to open.

The sisters looked at her, Phoebe said. "What?"

"What if we can't do this?"

They frowned at the same time. Piper finally said. "Then we try anyway."

Chris took his brother by the arm, with his cousin near him. They stared into the abyss of the portal. None of them wanted to go to that place. They had escaped, but they knew what had to happen. With a deep breath, and a gulp Chris and his brother leapt into the light of the portal, disappearing.

"Hey! Wait!" Phoebe called after, jumping in.

Piper shrugged and waved a small goodbye to Leo. "Take care of the boys!" She jumped in.

Ryan stared at her mother. "I don't want to go." She admitted.

"I know, but it's ok. We're going together." Paige soothed.

She pulled away. "We were together last time too." She said, jumping in alone.

Paige jumped in after her daughter.

Leo waved his hand over the portal, closing it. They were gone. Now he had to prey that they could do what was needed to save their family from disarray.

Paige was the first of them to land through the portal. Her whitelighter powers allowed her better guidance through portals. She found herself in a dusty, older version of the attic. As she stood to her feet, Piper, Phoebe, Victor, Chris, and finally her daughter Ryan popped through.

"Ah… home, sweet home." Ryan smiled.

Victor and Ryan pranced down the stairs. Unlike the sisters, they were inhabiting their past selves bodies. So there would be only one of them and Chris – but two of Piper, Phoebe and Paige.

"Chris, what are we going to do? How are we going to explain this to… you know, ourselves?" Piper asked her son.

He contemplated his options. "I guess we just tell you the truth, I think that'd be best."

Piper smiled brightly at her son's wise choice. She patted his head and hugged him.

"I'll go downstairs and gather… you guys, so you three stay here." He moved toward the attic door. "I'll bring them up here."

Chris jogged down the stairs and into the kitchen, where Piper was making cookies. She was just placing a batch on the counter, when she spotted Chris.

"Sweetie, can you test these? I'm trying out a new recipe." She asked.

Chris smiled lovingly. "Mom, I really need to talk to you."

"Oh, ok, what's up?" She asked.

He took her arm and pulled her aside. "There's trouble, Mom, big trouble."

His look told her that something was very wrong. Victor and Ryan came walking in, with desperate eyes. They too looked as though they had seen a ghost.

"Hey, what's wrong, baby." Piper touched her youngest child's face. "You can tell me."

Victor broke down into tears. "Mom!" He gripped her with all his might.

"Shhh, whatever it is, its ok." She soothed.

Ryan stepped forward. "The one thing it diffidently is not, is ok."

Piper backed away, a little afraid of what she might hear. The kids dragged her up the attic stairs, despite her wish to get Paige and Phoebe first. As she ascended the stairs, a strange feeling washed over her. It was like deja-vu, but stronger.

"Hey, kids, look…" Piper protested, as the attic door opened.

There, to her utter shock stood herself. Rather, someone who looked just like a younger version of herself. Out of instinct she blasted the women, sending her and her friends flying.

"Mom, no!" Chris stopped her from inflicting any more damage.

Past Piper, waved her hands about – a gesture for her future self to stop the attack. Just like herself, she didn't back down. She remained in attack-mode until Chris physically grabbed her hands to stop her.

"Mom, that's you! Stop!" He pleaded.

Future Piper groaned. "Oh… crap."

"That's what I was going to say!" Past Piper joked.

Future Piper sighed with an annoyed tone. "Not now… you…. Me, whatever." She turned to her middle son with great swiftness. "Young man, what on earth have I told you about messing with time? Did you listen to anything I told you?" She began to back her son into a corner.

He sheepishly conformed to her moves. "I'm sorry, really – but, this is important."

Future Piper nodded. "It's always important." She sighed. "That doesn't mean I can't be mad at you."

Past Piper's eye-brows went up with surprise. "Am I always this harsh?"

"Don't you start! I've had a heck of a lot more to deal with than you have, yet." Future Piper let into Past Piper just as easily as if she were one of her own kids.

Past Piper stepped up to the plate to fight. "Excuse me? I've come here to save you… er, me… from destruction! A little tanks would be in order!"

Future Piper poked her past selves' shoulder. "Thanks? Do you have any idea how much this is going to mess up our routine? The boys are finally in good places, and now… now you have to come here?"

Finally Phoebe stepped up to speak. "Girls… Pipers. Stop! This is getting us no where. You're both the same woman, and you're both equally stubborn. Piper…s… you need to just let Chris explain the problem before it gets much worse."

With that, both Pipers settled down, and let their son explain the situation.

"Mom… um, future, or present… this time's Piper…. God this is getting confusing." He scratched his head. "Wyatt is about to cause us a whole butt load of trouble. He's going to fall for this girl, Amy – the daughter of a demon over-lord. When that happens, he's going to grab Excalibur and he'll no longer care whether we're good or evil – he'll just want power, as much as possible."

Future Piper shook her head in disbelief. "No, no this can't be happening. Leo! Leo come quick!"

A swirl of glistening orbs formed in the attic. Leo stood facing his wife, unaware of the others behind him.

"What's wrong?" He asked matter-of-factly.

Piper scrunched her nose. "What's wrong is that." She pointed behind him.

Leo spun around to find himself staring into faces that were all too familiar, yet brand new. "What the…?"

"Dad, please don't freak out." Chris began to explain. "Its ok, they're here to help us."

Leo stammered. "Help us with what? We need help?"

"If I may…" Paige began. "We're here to save ourselves from absolute destruction."

The Elder took this in. "I see."


End file.
